Caffeine/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim puts toothpaste on his toothbrush and starts to brush his teeth. Tim spits it out. TIM: Ugh. What the? Tim has put "Doctor Anthony's Hair Gel" on his toothbrush by mistake. Moby appears next to Tim in the bathroom mirror. TIM: You'll pay for this. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, is coffee bad for you? From, Tacora. Well, that depends on your definition of bad. An image shows a steaming cup of coffee. TIM: A strong cup of coffee might have prevented Moby's little prank from working on me. Coffee's wake-you-up power comes from a popular drug called caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant, meaning it increases activity in your body's central nervous system. An animation shows the silhouette of the body, with the brain and spine highlighted. TIM: Caffeine increases your heart rate, mental alertness, and energy level, while decreasing your appetite and drowsiness. Images illustrate the ways caffeine stimulates people as Tim describes. TIM: I mean, basically, it makes you feel good and wakes you up. That's why so many people drink coffee or tea in the morning. The image of the cup of coffee reappears. TIM: Too much caffeine can be a bad thing though. Animations show a heart racing, a brain on fire, a person falling off a treadmill, a person unable to eat, and a man wide awake in bed. MOBY: Beep? TIM: No, caffeine occurs naturally in certain plants. It's especially concentrated in tea leaves, the seeds of the coffee plant, and the cacao tree, where chocolate comes from. Images show a tea leaf, coffee bean, and cocoa bean. TIM: In it's pure form, caffeine is a white, bitter powder. An image shows a pile of caffeine in powdered form. TIM: It's added artificially to sodas, energy drinks, and headache medicines. Images show canned drinks and a non-drowsy form of a headache medication. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Yeah, it's kind of weird how many products have this drug in it. People often don't think of it as being a drug because it's, well, 'cause it's so common. Like most drugs, caffeine has its downsides. For one thing, taking in too much caffeine can cause headaches, nausea, sleeplessness, and anxiety. And caffeine is addictive, or habit-forming. Images illustrate the downsides Tim describes. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Yep, it's physically addictive. That means two things. An image shows a cup of coffee. TIM: One, continued caffeine use makes you less sensitive to its effects, so you keep needing more and more to get the same feeling. the cup of coffee multiplies. TIM: That's called tolerance. Two, suddenly stopping caffeine leads to withdrawal symptoms like headaches, irritability, and insomnia. Images illustrate these withdrawal symptoms. TIM: And it's psychologically addictive, too, caffeine users have a hard time quitting something that makes them feel good. An image shows a man staring desperately at a cup of coffee. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Well, with all that said, caffeine is a relatively safe drug. Most doctors agree that moderate use isn't harmful to your health, unless you have a heart condition. MOBY: Beep? TIM: The consensus is that three hundred milligrams is the most you should take in on a daily basis. That's about three small cups of coffee. Images show a small pile of caffeine and three cups of coffee. TIM: And, well, you should probably discuss it with your folks, you know, before picking up a serious coffee habit. For sodas and other bottled drinks, the label will tell you how much caffeine there is. An image shows a can of soda. An arrow points to the information that the caffeine content is thirty-five milligrams in eight ounces of soda. TIM: Still, it's better not to need something to help you wake up every day, right? MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah. And best not to mess with the central nervous system. I mean, it's pretty good at its job. The image of the central nervous system reappears. Moby taps his body. TIM: Okay. I'm awake. Now... Tim smacks his teeth. TIM: Where's my toothpaste? Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Health Transcripts